FIFTEEN-MINUTE FRUIT GRATIN
If you take soft, ripe fruit, top it with a fancy sauce like crème Anglaise, and run the whole thing under the broiler, you have a four-star dessert. But if you top the fruit with something like sweetened heavy cream, whipped just enough so that it holds some body when broiled, or sweetened sour cream-which hardly needs to be whisked-you can produce a similarly glorious dessert in less than half the time. Although this preparation is lightning-quick, it has to be constantly watched while cooking. Get the broiler hot, put the dish right under the heating element, and keep your eyes open. You want the topping to burn a little bit-it will smell like toasting marshmallows-but obviously not too much. When the topping is nearly uniformly brown, with a few black spots, it's done. The fruit will not have cooked at all.
Yield makes 4 servings
Number Of Ingredients 4
Steps:
- Preheat the broiler; set the rack as close to the heat source as possible (even 2 inches is not too close).
- Wash, pit, stem, and peel the fruit as necessary. Cut stone fruit in halves or slices as you prefer. Cut strawberries in thick slices; leave smaller berries whole. Put the fruit-there should be at least 2 cups-in a baking or gratin dish just large enough to hold it.
- Whip the cream with 2 tablespoons of the sugar and the vanilla until it is thick and just barely holding soft peaks. Pour it over and around the fruit. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.
- Broil carefully, allowing the cream to brown all over and even burn in a couple of spots; rotate the baking dish during broiling if necessary. Remove and serve.
- Using sour cream in place of cream will produce a strikingly different result. Sour cream is thick, rich, flavorful, and (obviously) sour; sweet cream becomes thinner and saucier in texture: Combine 1 cup sour cream with just enough milk-about 1/4 cup-to allow you to whisk it smooth. Add 2 tablespoons sugar and proceed as directed, using 1 tablespoon brown sugar for the topping.
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